The Twisting, Spinning GOP Dervish Strikes Again

Apparently Chairman Al doesn't know the difference between true conservatism and democracy denying, statist, big brotherism.
Perhaps what he meant to say was that Monzel was a dictatorial fascist engaged in divisive class warfare - painting Music Hall supporters as elitist and not really in line with the rest of the county.
What the Hell, worked for Hitler & Reagan…

Funding City Parks
Over at UrbanCincy, Mr Simes has a post about the proposed upgrades for Washington Park. One of the issues is - only about half the funding is in place.
The park is managed by the city park board & financing with that entity is weird. Still money's tight all around these days.
Cincinnati has some lovely parks & is also home to some really nice cemeteries. One thing I think makes a city great is great architecture, art and statuary. On that last one, statuary, Cincinnati is pretty weak. OTOH, cemeteries like Spring Grove are treasure troves of statuary.
So, in an effort to get more statuary in the city & help pay for the parks, how about selling people graves in the public parks? Washington Park is a no brainer because it actually used to be a cemetery. Monuments could be as simple as a bench or giant angels blowing horns & stuff. Park planners could set up a kind of "form based" system with bold monuments in some places & monument benches, tables, drinking fountains, arches & stuff in appropriate places.
The sites would be more expensive than regular cemetery lots because the whole idea is to raise long term maintenance money & the deceased would get more face time with the living being in a park instead of being tucked away in a cemetery.
It's kinda like selling personalized pavers except bigger & more permanent. (My mom bought a paver for a museum & she is one of only a few who still has her name on the brick. Everybody else's wore off, but they put a trash can on my mom's so it is still in great shape!)
PS Spring Grove now has summer hours. Open late til 8 on Mondays & Thursdays.

My Mama's Basement

Cincinnati is well known for it's appreciation & support of the arts. These gentlemen use YouTube & Local Access Cable to explore the cinema. Many of the films they review are foreign made and not well known to the American audience. Their addition to the local arts community is very much appreciated.
Blogging isn't Cool salutes Big Buddha & Nassem.

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City Iron
A fairly new local blog (Jan '09) is the City Iron Blog. Not a biker blog (although the principals might be bikers) but a blog about the work of local artisan blacksmith, Sallquist at City Iron in (you knew it was coming) Northside.
Click here to see some of their super cool iron work.

The International Council of Shopping Centers reports that holiday sales at mall & shopping center stores had it's worst season since 1970.
But were sales and gift giving down ?
For the most part, on my end, it wasn't. A lot of the gifts given and most appreciated were handmade by local artists, craftsmen and family members.
For some time the "shop local" mantra has been trudging along and gaining some traction.
This article from the Noose Son describes the popularity of knitting these days. In Cincinnati there are several knitting groups including CinCity Stitch and the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library offers a knitting program at some of it's branches.
Add to that the local galleries and craft shows/fairs in Cincinnati like the annual Holiday Arts Fair in Northside early every December and The monthly open houses in Oakley and OTR, one has to ask himself how much these individuals making and selling unique items are affecting the sales at big box stores selling generic electronics and stuff.

I am frequently asked, "What's going on in Northside this Saturday ?"
ok, not really, more often than not, if I'm not being asked for money and/or cigarettes, I'm being asked to leave.
This Saturday, Northside Arts hosts another Winter Art Fair featuring locally made arts and crafts just in time for your holiday shopping. Some of the folks who will be there are Mary Faith Colon, Rachel Jones, Rose K. Brenner-Schwartz, Michael Isaacs, Andrea Vetter, Anna Collins, Carol Ann Newsome, Gillian Thompson, Heather Jerolaman, Jessica Ring, Amanda Carlisle, Karen Boyhen, Bill Williams, Mary Faith Colon, Ted Jeckering, Mike Smith and Mike Newman.
Also, this Saturday, we got:

• 9AM-noon Northside to Findlay Market bike ride
• 10A Decorate (presumably) Hoffner Park for the holidays
• 11A-5P Northside Arts Winter Art Fair
• 1P-4P Local Fair Trade Holiday Boutique at the Cincinnati Family Enrichment Center
• 8P The NVISION Fashion Show

And, as usual, lotsa fine food, drink and entertainment at Honey, Take the Cake, Bonomi, Ginger's, Boswell Alley, The Northside Tavern, The Gypsy Hut, Park Chili, The Blue Jay, The Hideaway, Melt, Portofino's, The Comet, Gajah Wong West, NYPD, Sidewinder, Bronz, Bullfishes and more.

Springfield Civic Theatre, one of the oldest theater groups in the state, begins it's 77th season with "Into the Woods".
For many years the theatre was on Main Street.

That place was later (rightfully - although with many fond memories) demolished and the theater group moved to the Turner Studio Theater at the Clark State Performing Arts Center.
"Into the Woods" ushers in a new era of "less quantity and higher quality," board president, Ed Sisler said.

Noose Son story here.